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Abbott quizzed on asylum seekers, health and broadband

Tony Abbott says he wants to restore "good and competent and prudent government".

Alan Porritt: AAP

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has been quizzed on a range of issues by a forum of undecided voters at the Rooty Hill RSL in western Sydney.

Just prior to his appearance Prime Minister Julia Gillard spent an hour being questioned about the ousting of former prime minister Kevin Rudd, health, education, gay marriage and the issue of trust.

Mr Abbott did not stay seated on the stage like Ms Gillard and began his address "on your level" with the audience of 200 people chosen by a polling company.

In his opening statement Mr Abbott reaffirmed his key election messages on government debt, the mining tax and asylum seekers.

"We are a great country, we are a great people. I think we have been let down by government," he said.

"I want to restore good and competent and prudent government which respects the citizens of this country and above all else respects the taxpayer dollar."

He was asked to explain his policy positions in areas including asylum seekers, health, broadband and climate change.

Mr Abbott used his prior experience in government to his drive home his message that Australians want a "stable, steady government".

"I can't say that I've got a big bag of goodies necessarily to dole out, and frankly I think you might not respect me if that's all I have to offer," Mr Abbott said.

"If I say that I will do something, I will do it. I've got a record in government."

The first question to Mr Abbott was what impact an emissions trading scheme (ETS) would have on the cost of living.

"With me there won't be an ETS, there won't be a carbon tax - with Julia you just don't know what's going to happen on this score," he said.

The second question he faced dealt with WorkChoices and Mr Abbott said if elected, people would get a period of stability.

"WorkChoices is gone - I've said dead, buried, cremated and that's not just a sneaky word game," he said.

Responding to questions on asylum seekers Mr Abbott said his argument was not with boat people but with Labor's policies that were encouraging people smugglers.

"I think we should have a significant humanitarian refugee intake - and we do - but I believe the government should be in charge, not the people smugglers," he said.

"I can understand why people want to come to Australia, but you should not as a government put the people smugglers into business to prey on desperate people."

Mr Abbott was challenged to detail how his health policies are superior to Labor's.

He said he was conscious of how important health services were and would redirect funds from what he called Labor's bureaucratic policies towards more hospital beds.

"In a nutshell I'm offering more beds and more local community boards to run hospitals," he said.

He also highlighted the Coalition's policy to spend $1.5 billion on mental health which he admitted would help but not work miracles.

The Coalition's alternative to Labor's $43 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) came in for attention with a voter taking Mr Abbott to task for not committing to spend more than $6 billion.

"What we do here has got to be affordable. I think there are lots of people who would say 'why not spend $43 billion on this'. I would rather not commit myself to such a gargantuan expenditure when we can't be absolutely confident that technology is not going to change," Mr Abbott said.

"I think our infrastructure has got to be affordable and deliverable and I just don't trust this mob to deliver."

Mr Abbott also took a dig at Labor over the ousting of former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

"He was chosen by the people and he should have faced the people's judgment," Mr Abbott said.

"I would've argued that they should have got rid of him. Nevertheless, it should have been the people that made that decision, not the faction leaders."